Period 5
May 22, 2013
The Kite Runner: Forgiveness
In order to heal from traumatic experiences, individuals must forgive others by risking emotional courage, because a relationship is often broken in trauma, which leads to an individual’s loss of someone close to them.
Baba portrays forgiveness when he forgives Hassan for stealing Amir's money and watch even though Hassan didn't actually steal it. Baba is unaware that Amir was only framing Hassan for stealing his money and watch. Baba asks, "Did you steal that money? Did you steal Amir's watch, Hassan?" Hassan responded, "Yes." By Hassan taking the blame of stealing Amir's belongings, he shows indirect forgiveness towards Amir who is in the room with Amir and Baba. There are two acts of forgiveness in the situation, one indirectly and one directly. Even though Baba claims, "There is no act more wretched than stealing," he directly forgives Hassan. Hassan obviously doesn't feel the need to explain to Baba that Amir had framed him because Hassan doesn't want Amir to suffer Baba's anger. By taking the blame, Hassan is risking emotional courage and putting himself in the position of Amir hurting him again. Hassan indirectly shows he doesn't want problems with Amir because their relationship means something to him.
Amir makes a very cowardly action by deciding to leave Hassan while Hassan is getting raped. After that has happened, Amir still sees Hassan, pretending like nothing has happened. Amir thinks Hassan had not seen him run away while he was raped. When Hassan takes the blame for stealing Amir's watch and money, Amir says, "Hassan knew. He knew I'd seen everything in that alley, that I'd stood there and done nothing." Hassan never approached Amir about that cowardly mistake Amir had made. Ali and Hassan decide to leave Babas after Baba asks Hassan about stealing the money and watch. Later in life Hassan reconnects with Amir, writing him letters. Hassan writes, "And I dream that someday you will return to Kabul to revisit the land of our childhood. If you do, you will find an old faithful friend waiting for you." Hassan shows forgiveness indirectly to Amir in his letter. After how badly Amir has treated Hassan, Hassan, still keeps a relationship with Amir and forgives him, Hassan describes himself as faithful, which he is.
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
Amir says “I opened my mouth and almost said something… the rest of my life might have turned out differently if I had” – Amir sounds guilty that he could’ve saved Hassan…
- 3536 Words
- 15 Pages
Better Essays -
Amir is very selfish and only does things for his own benefit. He did not have the courage or strength to step in and save his friend in the alley from Assef. He made the choice to betray his friend. As Hassan stood his ground in the alley and chooses to honor his promise to Amir and return the kite to him, Amir stood silent at the end of the alley and watched the beating and rape of his friend Hassan. The following quotation emphasizes how Amir is unworthy of Hassan’s loyalty: “I had one last chance to make a decision. One final opportunity to decide who I was going to be. I could step into that alley, stand up for Hassan – the way he’d stood up for me all those time in the past – and accept whatever would happen to me. Or I could run. In the end, I ran.” (82). Amir’s betrayal continues, as he later decides that he no longer wants Hassan and his father in the household, so he decides to set up Hassan and accuse him of stealing. “I went downstairs, crossed the yard, and entered Ali and Hassan’s living quarters by the loquat tree. I lifted Hassan’s mattress and planted my new watch and a handful of Afghani bills under it.” (110). Amir betrays Hassan by trying to have his friend fired for stealing. Hassan took the blame to keep Amir out of trouble. This…
- 1364 Words
- 6 Pages
Better Essays -
Set throughout the time of Afghanistan’s feud with Russia and also the control of the Taliban cluster, Khaled Hosseini's novel The Kite Runner takes US through the excruciating journey that emeer (The main character) should endure to achieve redemption for his sins still as his father’s love. Hosseini shows US the death of a child's innocence once emeer horrifically witnesses his supporter, Hassan, obtaining raped and will nothing to prevent it, each attributable to the very fact of their social variations and also the ‘reward’ that emeer would gain if he let it pass. This death of emeer's innocence propels the story forward by pushing Amir to come back to extreme measures so as to disembarrass himself of the…
- 182 Words
- 1 Page
Satisfactory Essays -
After Amir wins the competition, Hassan goes to retrieve his kite, when he then gets into a brawl with Assef and his two other boys. When Amir goes to find Hassan, he sees how he is getting abused by Assef and decides not to do anything about. He thought to himself, “I could step into that alley, stand up for Hassan- the way he’d stood up for me all those times in the past- and accept whatever would happen to me. Or I could run” (Hosseini 77). In the end, Amir decided to run because he was a coward and only thought of the best for himself, not Hassan. Readers uncover irony within this section of the novel. In order for Hassan not to be raped, he had to give Assef Amir’s kite, which Hassan knew would help boost Amir and Baba’s relationship. So Hassan, being a great friend, sacrifices himself, just so that Baba can be proud of Amir for once. After the rape, Amir and Hassan become distant from one another. When the two are face-to-face, Amir wishes Hassan would punish him. For instance, he pelts Hassan with the pomegranates, because he wants Hassan to hit him back. Punishment, Amir feels, would at least begin to make up for the way he wronged Hassan. Hassan, however, will not retaliate, and that became the greatest torment for Amir. Since Amir is still filled with the guilt of leaving Hassan to be raped in the alleyway, he decided he has to put an end to this. Seeing Hassan everyday was a constant reminder of his wronged actions. So, Amir went into Hassan’s living quarters, lifted his “mattress and planted [his] new watch and a handful of Afghani bills under it”, which made Baba believe Hassan stole all those items (Hosseini 104). Baba begs for Ali and Hassan to stay with them, but Ali makes the final decision that it would be best if they…
- 561 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Babas lack of love and affection towards Amir has proven to change Amir into a boy that is constantly in search for his fathers love. Amirs best friend,” Hassan” is always there to protect him when he gets into fights because he is too timid to stand up for himself. Baba is reluctant to praise Amir because he feels as Amir lacks courage and is a coward in many situations. For example; when Assef was disturbing Amir, Hassan had to take out his slingshot and threaten Assef to leave at once because Amir was too scared to do anything about it in that situation. “A boy who won’t stand up for himself becomes a man who can’t stand up to anything.”…
- 404 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
“A man who has no conscience, no goodness, does not suffer,” Khaled Hosseini wrote in his novel, The Kite Runner. Redemption is an important theme throughout the book, and these words were used to reassure the protagonist, who was trying to get redemption. According to Amir’s lengthy redemption arc, redemption can be achieved by acknowledging one’s offense and proving their loyalty to whomever they wronged.…
- 513 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Rick Warren once said, “We are products of our past, but we don’t have to be prisoners of it.” It is possible for people to change and redeem themselves for their wrongdoings. Being young and naive can cause cowardly actions; however, one has the ability to make up and fix their misbehavior. In the novel, The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, Amir redeems himself from the time he was young and cowardly and betrayed his loyal friend, Hassan, by saving Hassan’s son and taking him in as his own.…
- 627 Words
- 3 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
As we go through life we all make mistakes, how we deal with them shows more about us than the mistake its self. In The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, Amir makes a huge mistake that he will struggle with for many years to come, until one day he gets a phone call telling him that “There is a way to be good again.” (Hosseini 2) After this he sets off on a journey to redeem himself.…
- 506 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
He becomes aware of Baba’s betrayal to Ali, recognizing that his father and he were very much the same and the way he saw Baba as a kid was a false perception of his father. Amir realizes that betrayal is an evil thing and will haunt one until redemption is reached, like it once did with Baba, and now himself. Baba, however, did not have to be too hard on himself, for he tried to redeem himself throughout his entire life, although he made an immense mistake and had an affair with Ali’s wife, resulting in the birth of Hassan, Baba was sincerely sorry and was an honorable man who acknowledged his wrongdoing. Amir’s father was a prime example of a man who was worthy and honorable, he made a mistake, but an honorable man has several…
- 692 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Everyone in their lifetime will acquire some form of guilt no matter how big or small. From not cleaning your room after your parents have told you for the thousandth time, or just telling a little white lie. The way we deal with this guilt is through redemption. Either telling the truth about not cleaning your room and then cleaning your room plus the bathroom or just doing something that makes up for the cause of guilt. Throughout The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, there is a theme of betrayal and redemption. This is mostly shown through the main characters Amir and his father, Baba. Amir is living with the guilt of what he did to Hassan in the winter of 1975 while Baba is living with the guilt of not being able to acknowledge Hassan as…
- 215 Words
- 1 Page
Satisfactory Essays -
Amir resembles Baba because he too takes up redemption for the awful things he did. He understands the great danger Sohrab is in. He risks his life to help Sohrab; this shows loyalty to Hassan. Even though Sohrab is not Hassan sa his son shows that Amir is loyal to him. He would do anything for Hassan to make up for his childhood. After finding Sohrab, Amir comes face to face with Assef, Hassan's rapist. “Another rib snapped, this time lower. What was so funny was that, for the first time since the winter of 1975, I felt at peace. I laughed because I saw that, in some hidden nook in the corner of my mind, I’d even been looking forward to this… My body was broken – just how badly I wouldn’t find out until later – but I felt healed” (Hosseini 289) This scene depicts the acceptance that Amir finally faces. He starts coming to terms with his past because he feels at peace over the fact that he is finally getting justice for Hassan. That he is brave enough not to run away just as Hassan would stay to fight. Amir sacrifices everything for Sohrab just as Hassan did for him once. Amir finally shows the love for Hassan that was given to…
- 931 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
The novel shows Amir feeling shame throughout the whole novel as one bad decision as a child begins to haunt him forever trying to destroy him emotionally. Amir looks back to the time in his life where he watched his best friend and servant get raped whilst he does nothing about it. He holds on to this regret forever as his shame overwhelms him. When he sees Assef raping Hassan, Amir just stands there watching doing nothing about it then he “ran because I’m a coward. I was afraid of Assef and what he would do to me”. Because of this situation Amir felt guilt as “the thing with Hassan was because he was so goddamn pure, you always felt like a phony around him”. Amir was responsible for Ali and Hassan moving out of their house as Amir framed Hassan to look like he was stealing despite the fact that was not like Hassan at all this was because Baba once told Amir that theft was the only sin. Because of Amir making Hassan move out, the brothers never got to see each other ever again and every time Amir heard Hassan’s name he tried to ignore it but deep down the shame was still following him everywhere as it was such a destructive force.…
- 817 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
Once Amir gets some answers concerning Baba's transgression, he feels as if his whole life has been a cycle of disloyalty, even before he sold out Hassan. Be that as it may, having an essence of treachery himself does little towards recovering Amir. At the point when Assef very nearly murders Amir, he feels "mended," as if now that Assef has hurt him, he is recovered. He even tells Farid that in the room with Assef, he "got what he merited." In the end, Amir figures out that discipline is not what will recover him from his wrongdoing. It is not in any case sparing Sohrab. Keeping in mind the end goal to offer compensation for his transgression and Baba's before him, Amir must eradicate the lines of segregation he has lived with all his life…
- 341 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
In the alley, when watching transfixed as Hassan is tortured and humiliated by Assef, Amir opts to “[run]. [He] ran because he was a coward. [He] was afraid… maybe Hassan was the price [he] had to pay, the lamb [he] had to slay, to win Baba”. Knowing full well that Hassan would have gone to any length to protect Amir, for his perpetual loyalty never faltered, Amir fails to help the one who was always by his side in his time of need. For purely egocentric and self-protective reasons, and the fleeting gain of Baba’s attention, Amir betrays Hassan in an appalling manner, severing the ties of allegiance and brotherhood once holding them together.…
- 840 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of strong. Never does the humans soul so strong as when it forgoes revenge and dares forgive an injury, but being strong is not always as easy as it seems. During our lives, sometimes we have the moment when we need somebody’s help, when something seems impossible for us or just when we are unable to forgive. Theoretically we know that choosing forgiveness is the best way to behave as the God had told: “forgive and you will be forgiven”. Inability to forgive is a trap which only hurts yourself and it can make your life miserable.…
- 1284 Words
- 6 Pages
Good Essays